You can’t say that, No. 6
April 14, 2015 § 18 Comments
Ah yes, the old pray-for-a-miracle or form-changing-in-the-middle-of-a-five-day-stage-race race plan: “If I got lucky and the form changed or something then maybe I’d win it.” Chris Horner on his strategy for winning the Redlands Classic. CyclingNews, April 13, 2015.
It’s true, there weren’t a lot of fans jumping up and down saying “18th! He did it!”: “Some detractors may say him finishing 18th is a little underwhelming.” David Brailsford, trying to make the best of Brad Wiggins’s disappointing, final road race at Paris-Roubaix. CyclingNews, April 14, 2015.
The question tormenting your team is “Why didn’t you win?”: “A question has been tormenting me since yesterday!!!” Luca Paolini, complaining about why riders were allowed to slip through the closed railway crossing during Paris-Roubaix. CyclingNews, April 14, 2015.
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Cycling in the South Bay 
You’d think the pure physics regarding mass and inertia in a train VS bicycle racer scenario would push riders to not play chicken with choo choos. Officials blew it for Roubaix and set a bad precedent by not immediately DQing rider. The U23s in their race at Flanders did the same thing, not sure of the official ruling there.
Just really stupid riding or actually existence period as any aspect of goofing off involving a train has a very high percentage for a deadly outcome.
On the plus side it will clean up the muddy end of the gene pool.
Was there not a race a few years back when breakaway riders got through before a train came – not such a close call tho – and they went on, the officials let the gap stand, and one of them won? That would have encouraged racers to rush on through.
What’s important is winning. Death is secondary.
Flat tires and death are merely occupational hazards.
Although some would quibble that bicycle racing is an occupation as opposed to a mental illness.
Claim is this time the train timetable was fiddled to allow for the race but they had a tailwind so they got there 10 minutes quicker than expected, hence the crossing issue.
Obviously the drugs they were all hoped up on, fogged there minds.
Having said that, I remember riding under closing crossing barriers racing to the chip shop as a 14 year old, and that was just teenage hormones.
So yes it’s stupid, but perfectly normal people do stupid things sometimes.
Just a scant 20 months ago Horner was climbing at record setting speeds to win the Vuelta and riding Nibali off his wheel. I guess he just needs to find that kind of “form.”
Mostly found in China.
Yep, we’ve got it here in Aus too. Except it’s not cyclists this time, it’s aerial ping pong football players. And they’re blaiming tainted Kiwi meat.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-03-31/kiwis-beef-over-clenbuterol
Someone’s always beating up the meat for their problems.
A scan 15 months ago he was getting top-20 in the Tour de France after a terrible accident earlier that year.
I’m eagerly await the return of “World Tour Horner” at Gila. I mean, he’s clean and everything, so stomping a domestic field at a hilly event should be no problem.
Is there even going to be a Tour of the Gila this year? USAC/UCI has done all they can to end most long-running, community-based races.
Long-running, community-based races are the enemy.
Neutralising the race to allow the peloton to rejoin was sensible. So sensible that it should be a permanent rule so that lunatics don’t have Pavlovian responses to railway crossings.
Wiggo did ok. Not brilliant but a very decent way to sign off. I prefer that to Mr Horners approach.
Underscore this: bike racing is very hard and very unpredictable!
Tiesj ended in 100th place – you must have scared him.
I think it was … hard.